Politics as Scrabble
Fifty-nine percent of those polled want to turn in their Congressional tiles and pick some new ones.
Of course, when you do that, sometimes you get an even worse hand. But if the tiles you’re holding are bad enough—all vowels, for example—you’re willing to get rid of them and take your chances.
I suppose that’s part of what makes some people want to vote for Obama. Especially those who see him as that magical blank tile that can be anything you want it to be.
But Neo, as you well know others should know, and many do know, but deny, Obama isn’t a blank tile. The main stream media have just put a piece of tape over him so you can’t see what he really is. Ofcourse, the tape will come off after the election if he wins.
Isn’t there a kind of projection that washes out the reality and lets us imagine we see an unblemished, impossible-in-the-real-world hero? A kind of constantly operating deus ex machina? It’s not surprising people are willing to see Obama this way in troubled times. What is frightening is that so few of them have the self-awareness or classical education to know the play is just a play and the illusion must end.
And probably sooner than later.
Good analogy!
Neo,
Did you see the WaPo excerpt from the new bio of Michelle? Byron York has a post on it entitled”Mrs. Grievance” at NRO’s Corner.
Fifty-nine percent of those polled want to turn in their Congressional tiles and pick some new ones. People have been sick of the Congress for as long as I can remember. Yet, most members of either house who stand for re-election get re-elected, and most get re-elected rather easily, too.
Yes, ELC, that’s why they call it GERRYMANDERING.
In the olden days, 50% of congress went home after every election, voluntarily. Now it’s less than 10%, and they have to be dragged out kicking and screaming.
What happened to a government of ordinary citizens? It’s long gone, people. Obama’s kind of people gots control now, baby. And they ain’t never gonna be lettin go.
Blank tile! I love it.
I’ve been saying he’s an empty core with a mirrored facade, and people look at him and see their highest ideals and aspirations looking back at them, and they believe he embodies those traits.
But there is nothing inside.
Blank or wild card. Whichever.
The illusion is that we can use him, when the reality is that he will use us.
What we need is for more voters to have the blanks filled in for them…
When you stare too long into the Obama …
Obama is far from a blank tablet, whether you get your news exclusively from right-wing blogs or not.
On the economy, we know he’s looking at Robert Rubin as secretary of the treasury. On foreign policy, he’ll probably consider Colin Powell or may even consider keeping on Robert Gates.
This idea that Obama is some kind of freaky mystery man who’s going to radically change the country is just silly.
All the evidence points to a centrist administration with emphasis on competence, efficiency and long-range planning and results–much like the Obama campaign itself.
The good news, I suppose, for Obama Derangement Syndrome sufferers is that with Obama as president and the Democrats controlling the House and Senate, when things go wrong, you can actually blame the people in charge!!
For the past decade, when things went wrong, you’ve had to look for excuses, blame predecessors and change the subject.
Even Palin is running against George W. Bush, without ever getting around to blaming him or his ideology or his appointees or his supporters for anything that went wrong…
And if Obama does win in a landslide with long coattails, will the neoconservative blogosphere accept its share of responsibility and call for a re-examination of GOP tactics and ideology, or will it blame anything and everything other than itself?
Stan: That’s a lotta stuff with a considerable VRWC bent. All hysteria aside, Obama is whatever he needs to be to get where he wants to go. He is everything to all people. He is the semi-black Bill Clinton (who was, of course, our first Black President). We’ll see where he goes after he’s elected (I believe it to be a forgone conclusion – the only surprise is that it is this close).
We on the Right have been calling for a change in Republican tactics since the end of the Reagan Administration. Unfortunately, we keep getting RINO’s. I’m about ready to turn Libertarian.
“”This idea that Obama is some kind of freaky mystery man who’s going to radically change the country is just silly.
Stan M””
Whats silly is supporting someone whose lofty words and promises are accepted over a clearly piss poor track record. Can you say cognitive dissonance?
The Scrabble analogy holds up in one other aspect: no matter what letter you impute to that blank tile, it still scores zero points.
Stan M:
“All the evidence points to a centrist administration with emphasis on competence, efficiency and long-range planning and results—much like the Obama campaign itself.”
So far, the evidence points to an administration run by a convictionless opportunist who will shift left once safely in office. Obama only became a “centrist” when it was necessary for him to do so. His campaign to date, much like the candidate himself, has relied upon substance-less mirages shored up by a partisan press. That is what the evidence consists of.
You can certainly bet there will be long-range planning. Liberals love to make plans. After all, they know so much more than you do how you should spend your life.
Stan M said,
Gee Stan, I guess I’ll just have to vote ‘present’ on that one.
Count me in that 59%. I’ve already decided that I’m voting against my incumbent Congressmen (one of my Senators is on the ballot).
As for gerrymandering, both parties love it. That’s a battle we can fight at the state level and probably should be. I’m at the point where I’d like to see computer-drawn districts. Just start at the northwest corner of the state, move south and east until you’ve captured enough people, call that a district, and repeat until the whole state is done.
As the economy continues to tank, many will have to cut back. I will fight to keep my broadband service, for if I cut off the Internet, I will only have the air waves to know what is going on. And if Obama is elected, it’s a cinch the “fairness Doctrine” will come into being. THAT, is frightening.
Remember those annoying amendments to the constitution that gave people too many rights? Under Obama, we can get rid of them! Once we fill the courts with fellow haters of the constitution, we can dance around the flames while it all burns down, drumming and chanting into the long night.
It’s showtime, folks!
“We on the Right have been calling for a change in Republican tactics since the end of the Reagan Administration. Unfortunately, we keep getting RINO’s.”
Wow. The McCain campaign of wooing Bush voters by running against him is really penetrating in some quarters. Some voters appear to believe the George W. Bush doesn’t even exist!